NRL news: Brisbane Broncos’ little $60 move that destroyed any chance of getting Sam Walker back

Sam Walker all but closed the door on a move home to the Brisbane Broncos after revealing last week that he was very close to signing a lucrative two-year extension at the Roosters. But any chance of the star midfielder coming home to play for the club he supported as a child may well have been scuppered by his first proper meeting with the Broncos in 2019 and a $60 Uber ride that helped seal his move to the Roosters.

both NRL The Juggernauts were among a number of clubs competing for Walker’s signature in 2019, with Wallabies scouts also interested after watching him play school rugby for Ipswich Grammar. After being closely monitored and holding talks with both the Roosters and Brisbane, it was the Tri Colors who the teenage star ended up signing with after a measly move from the Broncos.

Walker was still studying at the time and had to be given permission to defer an end-of-year exam so he could attend a meeting with the Broncos in order to join the club. However, Brisbane requested that teenager Walker’s parents not be present at the meeting and because he did not yet have a driving licence, Walker had to take an Uber from Ipswich to Red Hill.

Instead, billionaire Roosters chairman Nick Politis flew Walker and his parents to Sydney for meetings with coach Trent Robinson and was far more lenient with the teenage star. That reported by Courier mail at the timeit was the environment at the Roosters and the support he felt from the club that made his choice to snub the Broncos an easy one.

“I’ve made up my mind,” Walker told his father, Ben, on the way home from meeting the Broncos. “I’m signing with the Roosters.” He later added: “I wanted to go to a club where I could play my best football. I felt there were people at the Roosters, like Trent Robinson, who were there to support me.”

Walker quickly burst onto the scene at the Roosters and made his own at half-back following the retirement of Cooper Cronk. Despite hitting a rocky patch in 2023 when he was dropped from the reserve grade midway through the season, the midfielder fought his way back into the team and impressed during the final campaign.

Sam Walker close to signing $2.1 million extension with Roosters

Walker enjoyed a superb season for the Roosters in 2024, racking up seven tries and 21 assists in 21 games before suffering an ACL injury that ruled him out of the final Tri Colors campaign. The 22-year-old admitted the injury will rule him out of the first half of next season but revealed he is on the verge of signing a two-year extension with the Roosters worth $2.1 million.

“It’s getting closer,” Walker said in an interview with 9News Sydney last week. “I’m sure something will come out soon and (I’m) looking forward to it.” Walker’s extension will tie him to the Roosters until the end of the 2027 season and is expected to be confirmed in the coming days. It comes as a huge relief to a Roosters side that said goodbye to a host of stars after the 2024 season, including rugby stars Joseph Suaalii and Joey Manu, plus veteran prop Jared Waarea-Hargreaves.

Roosters teammate Angus Crichton also appeared to let the cat out of the bag about Walker’s resignation with a telling revelation about house hunting in Sydney. “I don’t have a reception for you but I know he’s been looking at properties around Sydney so hopefully that’s a good sign,” Crichton said from the Kangaroos camp. “They are great friends with Sammy. I kind of tried to take him under my wing when he came to the club as a 17-year-old.

“We’re great friends now and I’m really keen for him to stay. He is a crucial part of our team. The way he plays, you can see there are points around him. The kind of things he brings out on the field, you can’t coach. The more mature he gets as a half, the better he’ll get. He is an important part of our team moving forward.”

Walker’s father Ben and uncles Chris and Shane Walker all played for the Broncos and was a regular linked with a move back to Brisbane as veteran midfielder Adam Reynolds retires. But it looks like the Broncos will have to wait a few more years for another crack at the playmaker, with his immediate future once again linked to the Roosters.